1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for feeding and watering animals, including domestic fowl, domestic pets, small livestock, and the like. More particularly, it concerns feeding and watering apparatus that provide a reservoir container supplying an attached, supporting bowl or dish and relying on gravital flow to dispense the feed or water and maintain a supply level in the bowl or dish. For example only, see U.S. Pat. No. D393,108, issued Mar. 31, 1998.
2. Description of Related Art
In the care of animals, the most fundamental tasks are to provide food and water to sustain the animals. The prior art is replete with apparatus for delivering foodstuffs to domestic animals and pets, and for supplying water for drinking. Generally, feed dispensers provide some form of reservoir container that is inverted and connected to a bowl or dish, so that gravital flow will incrementally dispense the feed and maintain a supply level in the bowl for a period of time. One well-known type of water dispenser provides a liquid reservoir that is inverted to open into a drinking bowl, the liquid level in the bowl establishing a dynamic balance between the hydrostatic pressure within the liquid reservoir and the aerostatic pressure acting on the surface of the liquid within the bowl. The water is discharged incrementally from the reservoir so that a water supply may be presented in the bowl for an extended period of time.
Each type of apparatus, whether animal feeder or animal waterer, is typically designed as an assembly of unique components, each bowl and reservoir container being shaped to fit with its mating components. As a result, each apparatus requires the design and production and warehousing and tracking of a number of parts, and these undertakings comprise a hidden business expense that is nonetheless a burden for any business. Therefore, it is useful for a business to reduce the number of components it must manufacture and store.
There have been some modest efforts in the prior art to simplify the components of pet feeder apparatus. Generally, these efforts have focused on the provision and use of a common reservoir container to supply different bowls, whether for compact shipping purposes or to enable interchangeability for cleaning purposes. The bowl component is typically designed and manufactured for a single purpose: water supply or feed supply.